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An exciting new feature called “automatic response mapping” will be available in iTest 3.3. This feature is the result of research by Fanfare experts into techniques for detecting patterns within textual content. A patent is currently pending for this technique and the algorithms involved.
Customers have told us that response mapping is one the most valuable features in iTest—but also one of the most complex to learn and use. So, we searched for a way that iTest could actually help users create new response maps. Starting in iTest 3.3, when you ask to create a response map, the wizard will first ask whether you want iTest to automatically analyze the sample response. If you agree, then for many responses, iTest will create a response map that does a good job of extracting the fields of interest from that response. There are still several types of responses that are too complex to be handled automatically. But for many simple and table-based responses, you’ll find that iTest usually does a good job. At worst, you can always create your own map, just as you did before.
If you are familiar with iTest, then you probably welcome those “blue boxes” that appear in the Response view. They tell you what information (from the response) iTest can extract using a query. If the information you need to extract is in a blue box, you can be confident that the associated query will be portable to different versions and variants of the device that produced it (through updated versions of the associated response map). If that information is not in a blue box, you will need to create a response map, or you will need to use a regular expression in the test case to extract the information—though you should keep in mind that this might cause problems later when the response format changes.
Once we had this new automatic mapping capability in place, we realized that we could take it one step further. Beginning in iTest 3.3, you may start to see “gray boxes” in the Response view. These boxes show you the information that automatic response mapping is able to extract. In other words, if you see gray boxes in the Response view and ask iTest to generate a response map for you automatically, those gray boxes will become blue boxes. In fact, without even creating a response map, you can add analysis rules into your test case based on the pro forma queries that would have been created if you had generated a map automatically. Then you can leave it to others downstream in the process to finish creating the maps.
You shouldn’t expect automatic response mapping to handle everything for you. But I’m excited about this new technology and look forward to your feedback once you have a chance to try it.
Customers have told us that response mapping is one the most valuable features in iTest—but also one of the most complex to learn and use. So, we searched for a way that iTest could actually help users create new response maps. Starting in iTest 3.3, when you ask to create a response map, the wizard will first ask whether you want iTest to automatically analyze the sample response. If you agree, then for many responses, iTest will create a response map that does a good job of extracting the fields of interest from that response. There are still several types of responses that are too complex to be handled automatically. But for many simple and table-based responses, you’ll find that iTest usually does a good job. At worst, you can always create your own map, just as you did before.
If you are familiar with iTest, then you probably welcome those “blue boxes” that appear in the Response view. They tell you what information (from the response) iTest can extract using a query. If the information you need to extract is in a blue box, you can be confident that the associated query will be portable to different versions and variants of the device that produced it (through updated versions of the associated response map). If that information is not in a blue box, you will need to create a response map, or you will need to use a regular expression in the test case to extract the information—though you should keep in mind that this might cause problems later when the response format changes.
Once we had this new automatic mapping capability in place, we realized that we could take it one step further. Beginning in iTest 3.3, you may start to see “gray boxes” in the Response view. These boxes show you the information that automatic response mapping is able to extract. In other words, if you see gray boxes in the Response view and ask iTest to generate a response map for you automatically, those gray boxes will become blue boxes. In fact, without even creating a response map, you can add analysis rules into your test case based on the pro forma queries that would have been created if you had generated a map automatically. Then you can leave it to others downstream in the process to finish creating the maps.
You shouldn’t expect automatic response mapping to handle everything for you. But I’m excited about this new technology and look forward to your feedback once you have a chance to try it.
 | Kingston Duffie is the founder and CTO of Fanfare. Learn more about Kingston >> |
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